Welcome to Friday!
Quote of the Week
I’ve been homeless before, so my apartment felt like a mansion to me. I’ve been without a car before, so mine felt like a Mercedes Benz. I’ve been without a job before, so my income felt like a million dollars. I’m grateful for all of these things. ~ Author Unknown
My Frugal Week
I would like to give a shout out to Julia V this week. Thank you very much for your kind deed. It meant so much to me. ❤️
The PayPal card attached to my PayPal account has a cash back reward option that has netted me several dollars since I’ve been using it regularly.
Gripper liner has been my best friend this week. 😂 We have a bunch of it from various yard sales and I started using it with Mom this week. She keeps sliding down in her bed and I am unable to pull her back up, so we’ve been experimenting with various ways to get her back up.
We were using a board to let her push off of with her feet, but today we tried the gripper liner for her to put her feet on and push up. She asked me to leave it there with her pillow on top and maybe she won’t slide back down. Her hospital bed still hasn’t come.
All the medicine and tubes of cream needed to care for her kept falling off her nightstand, so I added gripper liner to the top and put every on top of it, so hopefully her things won’t fall off anymore.
With every visit Mom receives from Home Health I’ve been observing how they do things with her and each time learned something new that will help me to help her.
I’ve done more decluttering in Mom’s room this week. The corner was filled up with various prints in frames and family photos. I took all the photos out of the frames and stored them in one of her drawers. The rest of them were offered up for free on our local free group and were all given away. I love how much better her room looks.
I saved $2.84 using my Target Red Card (Red Card users save 5%) on an order this week. They also said I saved $1.00 on shipping by agreeing to fewer boxes being delivered, but I spent enough to get free shipping, so I don’t know how that works. I ordered echinacea tea, pickles, and powdered Biz for the laundry.
Taking care of Mom made it so I didn’t drink as much water as I normally do, which is usually a lot. I also wasn’t able to go to the restroom as quickly as possible, which all led to a urinary tract infection. I called my primary care physician twice, but they didn’t call me back.
Instead I used my Insurance company website to contact a physician on MD Live and was able to get an appointment ten minutes later. The doctor called in an antibiotic and I am already feeling so much better. Total cost was zero for the visit and zero for the RX. I’m so grateful to have insurance to help me pay for these things.
Joy of the Week
The Dogwood trees are in full bloom here where I live in Tennessee. There is plenty of folklore that surrounds these beautiful trees. Look out any window in our home right now and see them in bloom and that brings me joy.
Another joy this week is watching the birds come to the bird feeder.
Meals This Week
Friday: Chicken Fajitas, Rice, and Broccoli
Saturday: Hamburgers and Potato Salad
Sunday: 🌮 Taco Night
Monday: Chicken, Potato Salad, Broccoli
Tuesday: Movie Night Pizza
Wednesday: Polish Sausage, Roasted Potatoes & Carrots, Green Beans & Onions
Thursday: Chicken, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli
Recipe of the Week
I personally prefer the flavor of a vegetable based broth over chicken or beef broth. Better Than Bouillon makes a paste type bouillon that, when added to water, makes a flavorful and delicious broth. I prefer to buy the lower sodium version. Whenever I add it to rice or chicken, people rave about the flavor and it’s this paste/broth that makes it taste so good. Here is a very simple recipe to use this in, and it’s great to use any leftovers in burritos the next day.
Simple Flavored Rice
Ingredients:
1 cup rice (I use basmati)2 cups water1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon
Directions:
Add all ingredients together. Cook as you would normally cook rice.I place mine in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes.
Saving on Entertainment
We got Mom a portable DVD player that she can hold in her hand and play whenever she wants to be entertained. We’ve pulled out all kinds of DVDs we already had on hand to entertain her for free.
She loves to read, but cannot hold a book right with her broken arm/shoulder. I tried various things to hold a book open for her, but no luck so far. So, the DVD player is entertaining her for now.
How was your week? We would love to hear about your week in the comment section.
Belinda~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
I am glad you are finding ways to make caring for your mom a little easier for both of you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne.
DeleteI hope your Mom is doing better and improving every day. I hope you are feeling better too. I hate UTI's. They are the worst. I am prone to them. D-Mannose is my best friend. :)
ReplyDeleteCan your Mom use a tablet or e-Reader? Look for a "Gooseneck Tablet Holder" on Amazon. That is the exact search term. This device will hold the tablet for her. There are other holders but IMO I think she would fare better with a Gooseneck.
Dogwoods are so beautiful. They are the State tree here in Missouri. I am allergic to them. I am miserable right now, lol. There are fifty dogwood trees surrounding me at the moment. I am not joking about that number. I am grateful that Dollar Tree carries allergy medicines so cheap, even if they went up 25 cents. The same medicine I use, the same amount is twice as much at WalMart for the Equate brand.
The Dollar Trees meds are such a savings. I believe you about the dogwoods. They are all over here too, same with the redbud trees. I will be sure to look up the gooseneck tablet holder for Mom. I think she would like that. She isn’t doing better, but hopefully will after her surgery on April 26th. I’m off to look up DMannose now too. Thank you for the information.
DeleteGood morning. I was thinking maybe your Mom would like to hear recorded books. Your local library may have many to hear from a phone or tablet. Best regards, Arlene
DeleteThat is a great idea, Arlene. I will look at their website to see what they have available. Thank you.
DeleteLOVE the quote - we are so blessed!
ReplyDeleteHope your mom continues to improve.
Thank you, Cheryl.
DeleteOh I love that you are taking such good care of Mom Belinda. The gripper liner sounds like a life saver. I love that tip.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter went down to Cincinnati to the zoo and she said those white trees are so pretty but my allergies are killing me. I had to tell her that those are dogwoods. So wish they grew here.
Thank you, Vickie. Yes, those dogwood trees, while beautiful, are not friendly to allergy sufferers, unfortunately. Good thing they only bloom once per year. 😂
DeleteCaregiving is SO hard, no matter how much you love the person. Be sure to give yourself the time and space you need for both your physical and mental health. By the time my mom moved to assisted living, I was a mess. Don't feel selfish if you need a break, it will be better for both of you. Reach out to anyone who can help, your well-being is important too. Sending warm, positive thoughts for both of you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the great advice, Bobi. I am an introvert, so when someone else is here with her I feel like I am on and that will leave me exhausted and mentally drained by the end of the day. I can see why you were a mess when your Mom went into assisted living. Some days I just cry because of the exhaustion and my inability to situate her enough to relieve her pain. I will be so glad when she has her surgery.
DeleteI live in Tennessee and my insurance is outrageous. $8500 deductible before it pays for a doggone thing. Can you share any information about your insurance plan?
ReplyDeleteI applied on the Marketplace last year in June after President Biden put in more stimulus for Americans to get help paying the Insurance premiums. My plan is one I picked and goes through Cigna. I pay $76 per month for the insurance. Without the stimulus it would be $899 per month. I hope that helps. If I were you I would check the marketplace website again.
DeleteI am so happy you are able to help your mom. What a great daughter. I love better than bullion products.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kim. :)
DeleteSounds as if you are doing a wonderful job helping your Mom. You are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Thank you, Jackie.
DeleteSending good thoughts that things with your mom get easier. And, so sorry to hear about the UTI - they are awful! I'm pretty good about drinking lots of water, but I've had them before, & they are miserable.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Yes, the UTIs are miserable. Mine has cleared up and I’m so glad.
DeleteSending hugs and prayers. I am sorry that your Mom is having a rough time, and I hope that the surgery will ease her pain. Caregiving is exhausting, but I hope you are able to take the time to take care of yourself too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips. I hadn't heard of the gripper, and it sounds really handy. Hope your Mom can get a hospital bed soon. That is rough. So many shortages and delays on so many things.
I haven't tried the vegetable better than, but I bet it does make the rice so tasty.
Please take care of yourself. Wish I was close to give you a little break for a bit.
Kathy, you are so sweet. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kathy. Take care of yourself, too! Caregiver support groups are good as well, even virtual ones, or an online Facebook-type group. It always helps to know you're not alone!
ReplyDeleteI used to use that kind of bouillon when we lived in Tennessee! One of my local grocery stores here in Illinois has something that's less expensive for me now, so I use that, but I agree with you, the Better Than Bouillon is a really good product! :) Have a great week! :)
Last week was a rough week with my daughter, but I'm optimistic that next week will be better. All the exercise I've been doing lately has helped me to keep my stress levels down, which is helpful (and I'm SO not a fitness person; I swear in my head a lot while I'm working out and constantly check the clock, haha!).